jgmorgan

"If you scroll down this post you will find detailed instructions on how to administer the test.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/abbott-at-home-covid-test/"

I found this in another thread.  It sheds some light on the process and suggests that one technician could do 12 per hour.  So maybe capacity won't be a serious issue as things more fully develop.

Hope so.🤞

Just now, canderson said:

Losing contact at any point with the person performing the at-home test would seem to defeat the point of whole 'proctoring' process. 

Yes, I get that.

But on Zoom calls I have been on, I can see multiple participants on a continuous basis even when they are not speaking.  I think it would be fairly easy to monitor three or four participants at the same time.  Once the test is administered isn't it just a matter of waiting for the indicator to appear or is there continuing interaction between client and technician (I haven't done one so I'm unsure)?  At any rate, developing adequate capacity will be high on Celebrity's to do list I hope.

Maybe it will be like technical assistance websites where one technician is dealing with multiple calls.  As long as you are being monitored by video the proctor might be able to engage with other customers while your test processes.

It will be interesting to see how it all develops, but since there is money to be made I suspect it will be figured out pretty quickly.🙂

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

The two day requirement is the final nail in the coffin for us.  Here is why this change makes cruising from a distant city now very difficult. 😬

I feel your pain.  We went though this thought process for our recent cruise when the three-day requirement was in place.  Now at two days, it would have been much more difficult for us.  We a have a cruise scheduled for Jan.2 and I can imagine the challenges of getting a test on New Year's Eve.  Hopefully by then things will be easier and Celebrity will have figured out a process with minimal friction.  It is absolutely in their economic interest to do so.

However, for now, before you throw in the towel, you might consider going ahead with your local test as planned and scheduling another upon arrival at the Seattle airport or other Seattle location.  If your local test is negative, it would be very unlikely that your Seattle test would be different given what I suspect has been your very cautious pre-cruise activities.  According to our testing folks, the antigen test is much more likely to result in false negative than a false positive. The downside of this approach is the cost of an extra test, but the upside might be getting on the cruise you have been looking forward to.

19 hours ago, jg51 said:

No one can predict, however, what would happen, from one ship to another.

True enough.

However, it's not unusual for my spouse and me to be on different sides of a wager (or many other things too). 😂

13 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

but, betting red & black is usually against the rules so they may stop you doing it anyway.

Maybe the assistance of a spouse/partner/stranger would work?

On our recent cruise at the craps table, on winners I believe they left the promotional chip on the table and paid any winnings in real chips.  Once a losing roll occurred they raked all of them in.  It worked out for us that we were able to replace the promotional chips and actually net a small amount.

I suspect it would be the same practice at the roulette table.

On the 8/20 Alaska cruise there were no outdoor movies.  The weather really wasn't conducive to outdoor activities on our sea days.

All of the Beyond the Podium talks were really good (especially Brent Nixon) and the stage shows were probably the best we've seen in recent years.  Two days they did matinees with prior evening guest entertainers that were excellent.

This is probably more than you wanted to know.😂

Maybe Celebrity could restructure the pay scale for the IT folks to make compensation more dependent on customer's tips (like the hospitality crew on board the ships).🙂

Seriously though, the blame is best laid at the desk of the CEO.  If she wanted it fixed, it would be.  The calculation must be that the investment required to migrate to a state of the art website is not worth the return to be derived.  Those of us that continue to book cruises (I am one) are part of that calculation.

Perhaps LMHSRN saw one of several articles over the last few months about NCL and Celebrity no longer using plastic bottles when making water available to guests.

Maybe someone who cares deeply about this issue could call Celebrity and ask the question.  That way we could get back to focusing on tips and dress codes. 😂

Ours had stickers applied to the card and handwritten dates written by records folks at the vaccination center.  Our cards were looked at four separate times and photographed once during check-in.🙂

I think they are very flexible as long as it is the physical CDC card.

On the Millennium (AquaClass cabin) we had two US outlets, one European outlet and two USB outlets at the desk/dressing table.  There was also two USB ports (I think) and a US outlet at the bedside table lamp. On other side of the bed there was a European outlet at the floor (but you had to move the bedside table slightly to access it.  There was also an electric shaver outlet in the bathroom in the light fixture over the sink.  Although I didn't go into other cabins, just from walking down the corridors it appeared all of the cabins had the same configuration. 

16 hours ago, Fouremco said:

The contract can be found here: 

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/Celebrity-Cruise-Ticket-Contract.pdf

 

Nowhere in the contract does the word "plastic" appear, nor is there any suggestion that only cans or glass bottles are allowed. Again, if you have seen a document stating that plastic containers are not allowed, would you please provide a link.

Good point, however the language of the Contract (see Paragraph 3) makes it pretty clear that Celebrity can prohibit passengers from bringing anything on board that is outside their policy.  Interestingly, the Contract doesn't contain any prohibition against bringing alcoholic beverages on board.  Per Paragraph 9.a. alcoholic beverages are subject to their policies as specified on their website (which, in the FAQ section, describes the alcohol policy).

As to plastic water bottles, which IMHO probably should be banned, there is no policy that I could find.  There is the item in the the "What not to pack?" FAQ (https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/before-you-board)  that seems to prohibit alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.  However, as many have indicated, taking water on board has been allowed in the past.  With AI, I could imagine them no longer permitting that practice.

The Contract is clear however, that if a passenger has a question about the permissibility of any item,  it is the passenger's obligation to seek clarification prior to boarding.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience.  And, your pics were great.

If you noticed, what time did they allow walk-off disembarkation?

This one started July 30.  There are others as well.  Search CVS or Antigen

"It looks like Celebrity is now requiring negative COVID test before boarding"

4 minutes ago, Oxo said:

Nothing is consistent anymore.

Except inconsistency?

Are you certain that your usage of ellipses is correct?  🙂

1 minute ago, canderson said:

I do not expect a national vaccine passport here.

I agree, although the feds could probably require a vaccine passport for public transport.  Although it may never really go into effect, the REAL ID requirement for future (now 2023?) TSA purposes may be an example.

25 minutes ago, sgmn said:

I want to book the Titanic museum in Belfast 

Great museum.  Enjoy!

11 hours ago, Auntiemomo said:

Good, let's keep it going.

Well, if you insist. 😂

12 hours ago, jg51 said:

Consequently, when you (and we) freely give cash -- i.e., a true "gratuity" -- during or at the end of a cruise, we are enhancing the amount that we have already given to those same good young people previously -- either as part of the cruise fare or as part of daily charges.

Yes, that is also my understanding.  Our intention is to enhance the amount received by the crew we to whom we most closely relate which sometimes includes good older people as well.

We have always considered the included gratuities to be for the ship-wide hospitality crew.  We always give end of cruise gratuities to the folks who deliver direct service to us for the duration of the cruise (room attendant, waiters and their assistants, sommelier, restaurant hostess or host, and the Maitre d’). Based on conversations with them over the years, we believe they get to keep that money individually.

2 minutes ago, pumpkin 11 said:

How is it inaccurate?

The horse may be near death.😬

In the past pre-cruise beverage upgrades for us required the dreaded phone call to Celebrity, it couldn't be done online.  This time we chose the Drinks and More upgrade (the premium drinks, casino credit, wine tasting event, and the mini-bar) seemed like a reasonable value compared to the cost of upgrading just the drink package.

36 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I stuck with Craps mostly

Behind the line bets have the best odds in the House.🤑

Not Walgreens, but Carbon Health Seattle has a centrally located site in downtown Seattle that does travel clearance testing and seems to allow forward looking appointments.  I didn't go through the complete booking steps but it might be worthwhile to check it out.  https://carbonhealth.com/covid-19-travel-clearance-seattle